Despite having outpatient work on his hand and ankle after a wreck on Monday, Rossi hopes to be driving his back-up car on Friday.
On Sunday, 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi looked like a contender to deliver a major upset for Ed Carpenter Racing when heof the 500 mile race.
His fortunes turned in an instant on Monday, when he spun in turn 2 during practice for the race and hit a wall hard. Two outpatient surgeries later, he still plans to race in the 500 this weekend. Rossi's crash was the beginning of a three-car chain reaction, all in turn 2.
He hit the wall first and hardest, but both Pato O'Ward and Romain Grosjean spun trying to avoid the wreck and O'Ward spun back into Rossi in the chaos. The other two involved drivers were quickly cleared by IndyCar's medical team, but Rossi was sent to a nearby hospital for further evaluation. , he received two "successful outpatient procedures" on his right angle and a finger on his left hand.
That may seem like the sort of thing that keeps a racing driver out of the car for weeks, maybe even a month or two, but Rossi may be able to race anyway. He has not been medically cleared yet, but he does not need to get back into the car until Friday's Carb Day session and has three days to get that clearance ahead of the race.
Rossi will be aiming to run the race, but if he is not cleared in time, his ECR team can run a special refresher session with a reasonably-qualified back-up driver and can still enter the race with someone else in the car.s that 2025 Prema IndyCar driver Callum Ilott and 2024 Chip Ganassi Racing driver Linus Lundqvist have both been at the track all week and could be candidates to step into the role if needed. If he does race, it will be in a back-up car.
That would mean a a big project to build up a race-ready car in a week for the biggest IndyCar race of the year, but if Rossi is able to get back into the car without calling on a substitute, he can still start the race from the front row spot he earned in Sunday's qualifying sessions. Fred Smith's love of cars comes from his fascination with auto racing.
Unfortunately, that passion led him to daily drive a high-mileage, first-year Porsche Panamera. He is still thinking about the last lap of the 2011 Indianapolis 500.
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